religion vs. teen pregnancy rate

On Monday, during lecture we discussed how more religious and conservative states “red states” have a higher rate of teen pregnancies.  Growing up in the south I can say first hand that this does not surprise me at all. You are taught from a very young age at school church and at home that you should not have sex until you are married and that's that. Teens are just supposed to abide by this and parents kind of turn their heads and kind of pretend that no teen is having sex.

 I looked up the relationship between highest teen birth rates and the most religiously conservative states and with no surprise most of these states appeared on both lists.

Top 10 states with highest teen birth rates:

1. Mississippi

2. New Mexico

3. Texas

4. Arkansas

5. Arizona

6. Oklahoma

7. Nevada

8. Tennessee

9. Kentucky

10. Georgia

Top 10 most conservatively religious states:

1. Mississippi

2. Alabama

3. South Carolina

4. Tennessee

5. Louisiana

6. Utah

7. Arkansas

8. North Carolina

9. Kentucky

10. Oklahoma

There are a number of possible reasons for this relationship. Both religion and teen pregnancy are correlated with poverty and lack of education. Lack of education includes lack of adequate sex education. The areas of the US where teen pregnancy is highest tend to be those places where comprehensive sex education is discouraged, or abstinence is taught as the only form of sex education. In this case, religion motivates teen pregnancy, as young people who do end up having sex do not do it in a safe or responsible way. Another way that religion causes teen pregnancy is in traditional attitudes toward gender, family and marriage. More religious communities may place greater emphasis on a woman's role as a mother and wife, and therefore undervalue female education and work. 

I thought this was very interesting because I feel like these same religious and conservative states that are dealing with all of these teen pregnancies are the most judgmental and least accepting of teen pregnancies. One would think in this day and age, they would wise up and provide better education. Parents should face the facts that teens are going to do what they want, so they might as well protect them and educate teens as much as possible.

abortion vs. adoption

Since we were discussing last class about adoption vs. abortion, I decided to look deeper into the choice of abortion.  Since abortion is more popular by 28% of teens in the United States, I wanted to see why most teens pick this and the effects it has on teenagers who choose abortion over adoption or parenting.

Even though teens that have abortion don't actually give birth. The effects it has on young girls don't end as soon as they choose to have an abortion. In fact I found on some websites that the emotional effects abortion has on these teens can be detrimental to their lives.

Here are some links to these sites:

http://www.abortionfacts.com/reardon/after_effects_of_abortion.asp

http://afterabortion.org/1999/the-emotional-effects-of-abortion/

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/myths/post_abortion_syndrome.html

I was shocked to see how many negative effects it can have on one person after they have an abortion such as:

·                             Regret

·      Anger

·      Guilty feelings

·      Shame

·      Drug and alcohol abuse

·      Sense of loneliness or isolation

·      Loss of self confidence

·      Insomnia or nightmares

·      Relationship issues

·      Suicidal thoughts and feelings

·      Eating disorders

·      Depression

    Anxiety

This is not to say that all women that have abortions will experience any of these effects, experts say that if women that choose abortion that have pervious emotional conflicts will be more likely to be susceptible to these. Some of these examples are:

·      Individuals with previous emotional or psychological issues

·      Individuals who have been coerced, forced or persuaded to get an abortion

·      Individuals with religious beliefs that conflict with abortion

·      Individuals with moral or ethical views that conflict with abortion

·      Individuals who obtain an abortion in the later stages of pregnancy

·      Individuals without support from significant others or their partner

·      Women obtaining an abortion for genetic or fetal abnormalities

Although adoption and parenting might not be the right decision for everyone, the choice of abortion might be too emotionally damaging to young women. In contrast, the choice of adoption provides benefits to a baby by allowing her to grow up in a stable and loving environment. Many teens experiencing an unplanned pregnancy do not feel ready to parent a child, either because of age, financial background or social circumstances. Choosing adoption provides stability with adoptive parents who are ready to parent a child. Not only is it a great alternative for your child, for the young mother it can be her second chance and she can return to her life before she got pregnant. They are also less likely to have another unplanned pregnancy and report positive feelings toward adoption and their decision.

Home Births

After watching "The Business of Being Born," I felt like I had learned a lot about home births. I had heard of home births before watching the movie, but I guess I did not really have all the information. I really try to stay away from labeling people or letting a stereotype define a person, but I definitely had some assumptions about home birthing. I assumed that women who would choose home births really value the idea of natural childbirth. They see the naturalness of home birthing as something to be valued, whereas many other women see it more as something to be avoided and treated with drugs or epidurals. In all honesty, I see nothing wrong with births that take place in hospitals, but I think some information about birthing in general as been misrepresented.
For one, I was surprised to find out that home births can be much safer than hospital births. As a nursing major, I was very interested to know that certain drugs are used more out of luxury or due to the physician's preference instead of simply considering whether the drugs were necessary. Also, it seems like the drugs weren't always the safest route for the mother and baby. In the documentary, I learned that pitocin can basically speed up later. However, in the process, the contractions can become more and more intense, making the mother feel like she really needs an epidural. Then, the epidural can actually slow labor down to the point that the baby is distressed. This can lead to an "emergency" cesarean section even though the whole situation could have been avoided if pitocin had not been used. This was shocking to me because I really feel that physicians should be doing all they can to minimize complication. They should not be using drugs that have a high chance of causing complications, especially if they are not completely necessary.
I was also surprised to know that there are issues with insurance covering home births. From what I have learned, I think it can make sense for a woman to choose home birth, especially if she has had continuous prenatal care and all major complications have been ruled out. Obviously, anything can happen during a delivery, but if all major complications have been ruled out, it seems that a trained mid-wife could handle the situation perfectly. Therefore, I do not think it makes sense for an insurance company to be hesitant to cover home births due to the fact that they can be perfectly safe. Also, one of the women featured in the film brought up a good point by saying that she wondered what was on the hospital's "agenda" to make hospital births so costly, when home births are much less expensive in comparison. I think this just kind of shows society's views on birth. I don't think anyone is necessarily trying to take away from the natural birth process. However, I do think America has a tendency to always be moving forward and taking advantage of the "next big thing." This is shown with new fashion trends, technology, and all kinds of medical advancements. Our society views "new" as better, so I think we are hesitant to see the benefits of home birth because it is natural and may feel like a step in the wrong direction.

I know I haven't really introduced any new information for you all to think about, but I just had to share my interest/shock at some of the information I learned from the film. I would love to hear about what you all learned from the film, and I would be interested to know what you thought/knew about home births before this class.

I also found an interesting article if anyone else cares to read up more about home births vs. hospital births:
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor-and-delivery/hospital-birth-home-birth-debate_70709

Choosing Adoption

After reading about teens choosing adoption or abortion and discussing those topics in class, I was interested enough in the topic to do some research. Obviously there are many different articles that discuss the pros and cons of adoption and abortion, but I was able to find one source that was very interesting to me.
As I started reading this article, I found that adoption rates have been steadily decreasing since the 1970s. I asked myself why this would happen. I thought maybe it had to do with the fact that abortion was becoming more socially accepted and is even legal in some areas when this was not the case before. This made sense to me because I thought that if a teen mother was not planning on raising the child as her own, maybe she would not want to go through the pregnancy and childbirth. Therefore, abortion would be an attractive option. However, as I read on, I found out this was not entirely accurate. The article states that the number of women placing their children for adoption has decreased over the years, but the abortion rate has also been decreasing since the 1990s. This means that the decrease in adoption rate is due to something other than the fact that abortion is now also an option. The article then goes on to explain a few other factors that are affecting the adoption rate.
I also found another fact very interesting. When I think about the type of people who would be placing their children up for adoption, I imagine that it would be women or girls who do not want to raise the child (obviously). I assumed that these women would have been living in poverty, so maybe they chose adoption because they knew they could not financially care for a child. Perhaps the mothers did not have a great deal of emotional support from their families or communities, so they chose adoption because they did not feel supported enough to raise a child. In addition, I assumed that mothers who chose adoption had a lower socioeconomic status with little education. I thought mothers who did not feel as if they could provide a good home for their child may be attracted to adoption. In addition, I thought maybe mothers with little educational background would be interested in adoption so that they could continue their education or reach other goals.
However, my original assumptions were mostly wrong. According to this article, many women who choose adoption come from solid, supportive family backgrounds (contrary to my assumption). In addition, they are actually not members of low socioeconomic status. In fact, the article clearly states that women who choose adoption tend to have higher socioeconomic statuses. The article also states that many of these women have more educational and other goals than those who decide to raise their children, so I was on the right track with that assumption.
This article may be more focused on motherhood in general as opposed to specifically teen motherhood, however I still think it is very applicable to what we have been learning in class. My original assumptions regarding adoption came from my own personal experiences, but they also came from watching Catelynn's episode on 16&Pregnant. I had a good friend who was adopted. She did not know much about her biological parents, but she knew her mother was very young and living in poverty. After watching Catelynn's episode, I was left with the impression that she did not come from a family that was very financially stable, or stable at all for that matter. Her stepfather is in and out of jail, and her mother does not seem to offer much emotional support for Catelynn during her pregnancy. However, Lori's episode definitely makes more sense after reading this article. Lori attended a private, religious school, so I assume the school was probably more expensive than most other schools. This leads me to make the assumption that her family is probably financially stable and may even be from a high socioeconomic status. In addition, her parents seem to push adoption, yet in general they seem like a supportive, loving, close-knit family. This goes along with what the article said as well.
For me, this article was beneficial because it gave me a better understanding of the women who choose adoption over abortion or raising the child. I would love to know what kind of women you thought would be attracted to adoption, just to see how many people had the same thought process that I did, and if anyone learned anything else interesting from the article.

If anyone is interested here is the link:
http://statistics.adoption.com/information/adoption-statistics-placing-children.html

AnnaLisa Post 2

http://abcnewspapers.com/2012/02/27/teen-dating-violence-cause-for-concern/

In lecture, teen dating violence was discussed in relation to teenage relationships. Interestingly enough, February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month; something I personally did not even know existed. Just as awareness of the “teen pregnancy phenomena” is becoming more prevalent, so is the problem of teen dating violence within these relationships that may or may not lead to teen pregnancy.

As discussed in lecture and the article, teens do not have a lot of relationship experience and do not always recognize the risk factors of teen dating violence. Some risk factors include being controlling, clingy, constantly wanting to know where you are and what you are doing, distancing you from your  friends or family, emotional abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, or being condescending. Being controlling or clingy could be mistaken for just being extra loving and caring. If teens do maybe recognize these signs, they may want to stay in the relationship for security, or because they see Hollywood couples and feel like they have to be in a relationship.

In my opinion, TDV is definitely a serious issue that is underplayed, and awareness definitely needs to be amplified. Teens in abusive relationships whether emotional or physical are planting seeds for future unhealthy relationships. Especially when they are not aware of the risk factors above and the consequences that comes about from staying in a violent relationship. Personally, I never thought of the different aspects of being controlling as dating violence necessarily. I always thought verbal and physical violence, but the different aspects of controlling a person vary in vast ways. Being condescending in everyday comments, critiquing dress, critiquing friends, not allowing one to spend time with anyone but them, etc. Although these actions all seem to be pretty obvious risks of a violent, unhealthy relationship; I can see how "first love" feelings can get in the way of rational thinking. Also at such young ages, the ability to think rationally probably is not as readily developed.

I think increasing teen dating violence, and dating violence in general would be a very beneficial thing. People need to be educated about s subjects, especially when my age group is generally victim to these types relationships and I too fall to not being aware of all the possible risk factors of violent relationships. I feel as though adults may look at youth relationships as immature and unrealistic, which may have some truth. However, that does not mean that teens are not violent and that violent relationships are not possible in teen dating. Making teens aware of dating violence is so important for their safety, self esteem, and duffer relationships. Whether it be a conference, school program, or simply a pamphlet, teens need some kind of education, which is why I definitely applaude the TDV Awareness Month and the efforts of the healthy relationship pledg in Boston discussed in the article.

AnnaLisa Post 1

http://www.lodinews.com/news/article_19695860-d3f4-5c04-b83f-849e1e2a75fe.html

The main points of this article that I took away were the different situations about the teen fathers and how they related to masculinity discussed in class. And also the Plaza Robles High School's New Horizons Parent Program.

It is very interesting to look at the different situations of teen fathers of the girls in this article. One teen father moves states but still send child support. Another teen mom lives with her baby's father and their family. And another teen mom had what we most commonly hear where her boyfriend decided "fatherhood wasn't for him." The most common situation we discussed that goes along with masculinity is the last, where the teen father can't or doesn't want to step up and mature, but is kind of just let off the hook in the long run. Wile, the teen mom is expected to ow up and take care of the child regardless of the teen fathers actions. And if she doesn't, she is looked down upon. This plays into the double standard of girls who sleep around as being sluts and boys who sleep around as just being boys. Teen fathers are not held as responsible for their equal part in the actions of having sex, but don't want to take responsibility for caring for a child. Unfortunately, this is a situation that most expect from teen fathers. It is definitely the norm for what a lot of teenage mothers have to experience. However, the other two teen mothers in the article were a little luckier in their experiences with teen fathers. It's like a fresh of breath air to read about teen fathers stepping up and being there for their child, whether it be physically or financially or both. When you think about it, hearing abut these teen fathers makes us think "oh what a great guy" and get that mushy feeling inside. However, every single teen father should have these expectations. And it's an unfortunate phenomenon that teen pregnancy rates are so high and that teenage fathers are not necessarily as accountable for the aftermath of teenage sex as teenage mothers.

The other interesting aspect of this article is the New Horizons Parenting Program at the young girls schools. As we discussed over hand over, sex education seems to be one aspect that could be touched on and emphasized more to you. This program lets these girls continue on with their education and be "normal" kids at school, while their children are at daycare right across the street. Furthermore, after school the teen moms go to the program facility and learn about contraceptives, STDs and becoming a parent. I feel like this is a rarity in our society. Many teen moms are looked down upon and "left out to dry" in some situations. However, this program allows teen moms to move forward with the premise of success still in their grasps even though they had a child at such a young age. I applaude this kind of program. I dont think that it necessarily promotes teen pregnancy, but is a source of hope that if one does get pregnant that it is not going to "ruin their lives". While teen pregnancy will definitely change teen moms lives, it doesn't necessarily all have to be negative change. As we see in 16 and Pregnant the show, the teen moms regret for the most part having sex without protection and getting pregnant, but they love their child and for the most part step up and try to take care of their child to the best of their ability. For the young girls in the article, the program is definitely a way for them to achieve that goal and also a positive source of guidance through such a difficult and different life experience.

Sex in the Media

https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1351fefd23520217

Since we had been talking about sex and media I looked for an article that proved that sex on tv promoted young teen first times sex. This article says that seeing sexual shows between the ages of 12-14 increases young sex by about 30%. This is crazy. I don't know if kids are just naive or their parents didn't teach them correctly. How many tv shows are violent and have death in them? Lots, and you can't tell me that that they aren't watching that or playing video games that include violence. So if they are watching and playing these games is this to say that it increases violence? I know there are a few studies that do show this but its not quite as highly talked about. I know that parents talk to their children about the violence they see and that the deaths aren't real (or at least my parents did) and it was all about making tv, none of it was real. I don't think that parents have the same little chat with their kids about the sex they see on tv which I think is wrong. They should explain to their children what sex is all about. I know that having that chat is not a fun time, but if they're watching it at an early age, they probably need the talk at an early time.

Sorry guys, I know I'm running behind on putting this up again.

Who uses birth control

http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/131

Since lately we have been talking a lot about contraceptive uses and the difference in race, gender, and all that, I decided to do some further research and see what else is said.
Western European countries have about the same average of teens having sex as the United States but because either the United States teenagers do not think about the future as much as the Europeans or we seriously are just mindless, the United States of course has a higher pregnancy rate. The United States doesn't just have a little higher rate of pregnancy its a large jump from what the Europeans have, all because contraceptive use is not used consistently. Contraception is very easily accessed throughout the United States there really isn't much excuse for teenagers to not be using it. Another great fact I read about in this article is that females and their partners don't always communicate whether they're using a type of birth control. That is a serious problem, if your having sex you should be able to have the big kid talk and be responsible enough to communicate whether or not birth control is being used from both partners. Guys generally think that all girls are on birth control of some sort because it makes life just great for them.
I do think it is great that they are trying to set a national goal to educate and increase contraceptive uses for the sexually active teens between 15 and 19. Teens clearly don't always think things through or need more information about where and how they can get birth controls and what kind of forms they can get. Teen pregnancy in the United States will hopefully go down eventually.

Post #2: Evan

After briefly discussing Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy in class today, I wondered what had happened to the former child star in the last four years. Someone at Entertainment Weekly must have been thinking the same thing, because this article was published just 3 days ago.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/03/jamie-lynn-spears-teen-pregnancy-glamour/

Like someone said in lecture on Monday, I, too, was incredibly shocked in 2007 to learn that Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant at 16. I'll admit I was quick to judge and criticize - thinking that she must have been careless and fame-hungry in the shadow of her sister's global stardom. However, the fact that we haven't seen much of her since then, the statements made by Spears in this article, and the idea of social construction that we talked about in class make me think that perhaps I was misguided and a bit pretentious in my initial critique. Though I do still stand by my opinion that Spears' getting pregnant was a huge blow to Nickelodeon and the young star's pre-teen fans, she makes a valid point in stating, “I’d had one boyfriend. It doesn’t make it perfect or all right. But I was judged for something that probably most everyone does. I was young. I was in love. I was like every other teenager, except I had this last name.”

Jamie, like a large number of teens in the United States, was having sex at 16. However, like we discussed in lecture today, she was judged and criticized for not being able to hide the evidence of her sex life by getting pregnant. In her above statement, Jamie also shines light on another prevalent stereotype of teen pregnancy - that girls who get pregnant at a young age must be promiscuous. For whatever reason, this stereotype still exists in today's society and we are quick to label teen moms as "sluts" who must "get around." Spears' reminds us in this article that this is not always the case. In fact, as we learned in Week 1 readings, a large portion of teen pregnancies occur within the context of committed, monogamous relationships.

Good for her for stepping out of the spotlight to quietly focus on raising her daughter. Still probably won't be rushing to the store to buy her debut album though...

Post 1: Evan

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/01/the-reads-you-need-komen-drops-planned-parenthood-funding/

Early this week, the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research announced that they would be dropping their funding to Planned Parenthood. Although much of the hype surrounding this issue has been about how the loss in funding will impact women's health care (specifically breast exams) for low-income females, this issue can also be very closely related to teen pregnancy in the U.S. We know from class and social observation that although the U.S. is a developed nation, many young people do not have access to education about sex and pregnancy through their schooling and are uncomfortable discussing it with their parents. Thus, many young women turn to services like Planned Parenthood, but often only after they've already become pregnant. Additionally, we know that statistically, young women who come from lower socioeconomic statuses are both more likely to get pregnant and more likely to need free/reduced healthcare services, such as those at Planned Parenthood. There are several examples of this on the MTV show 16 & Pregnant, including Farrah's episode where she admits to going to Planned Parenthood to seek help after becoming pregnant with Sophia. However, the cut in funding may inhibit Planned Parenthood's ability to continue to provide these services to young women, much less continue to grow their outreach and education programs (such as teaching about condom use).
Do you agree with the cut in funding due to religious/spiritual/political beliefs? Does it matter? Do you think it will have a positive or negative effect on teen pregnancy rates in the U.S.?

Posting Schedule

Lead blogger: post on Monday (assigned dates)
Comments: everyone must comment at least 6 times throughout the semester. Posts must be completed by Thursday at 8pm.

Jan. 30 - Evan
Feb. 6 - Evan
Feb. 13 -  Jordan
Feb. 20 - Jordan
Feb. 27 - Anna
March 5 - Anna
March 12 - Kelcy
March 19 -Kelcy
April 2 - Alex
April 9 - Alex